


skating akin to hearts within

by Lindsflea



Series: discord writing challenges! <3 [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Fluff, M/M, Skateboarding, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, also literally falling, as they should - Freeform, literally just karlnap being gay and fluffy for 1.7k words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 10:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29748870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lindsflea/pseuds/Lindsflea
Summary: PROMPT: skateboarding au! two people of your choiceORsapnap attempts to teach karl how to skateboard, but ultimately they realise their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Series: discord writing challenges! <3 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184813
Comments: 12
Kudos: 78





	skating akin to hearts within

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is yet again another prompt from the writta's block discord server writing comp :]   
> also, it's my first time writing karlnap, so i hope it lives up to your expectations! (and reads you poor souls the karlnap tag is STARVING /lh)
> 
> thank you so much to one of my twitter moots rebekah for reading this beforehand and giving me the confidence i needed to post, ily <3 /p
> 
> if the cc's ever express discomfort about fanfiction, this will be taken down. respect their boundaries!  
> enjoy :D

The sun beats down on the pavement, illuminating it in flashes of gold and pale brown. Shadows scamper to and fro across the scenery, painting the picture of activity and ecstasy, jovial voices lacing the air and the gentle rumble of skateboards slinking across the concrete.

The pair stands just behind the link fence gate, used as a blockade to separate the course and the rest of the park. One sports a multicolored sweater, nervous hazel eyes darting up and down, back and forth. The raven haired man holds a skateboard tucked in the crease of his hip, tapping his foot mindlessly and staring at the other, an eyebrow quirked upwards.

“So,” Sapnap says, rolling the board back and forth, impatient.

“So,” Karl repeats, shooting the other a cheesy grin to try and hide his apprehension. It does not work.

Sapnap raises another eyebrow, expectant. He motions a hand towards the course. “Well? You wanted me to teach you, right?”

Karl nods dumbly. Sapnap gestures to the area again, and starts to head toward it accordingly. Karl follows close behind him similar to a lost puppy, taking in the scenery around him with anxious, dilated pupils.

They eventually make their way across the course, weaving their way past giddy teenagers gallivanting across multiple obstacles and older couples teaching each other their favorite hobby. Stopping at the corner, directly across from the exit, Sapnap sets the board down and stares at it as if it would start moving at any second. It doesn’t. Karl has to stifle a laugh.

“Okay,” Sapnap starts, and Karl waits with bated breath; Sapnap’s instructions on things are always quick and to the point, “so, you take the board, right?” Karl nods. 

“Place it right on the ground, like so,” Sapnap says and points towards the skateboard. Karl nods again, oh the repetitive yet affirmative motion it is.

Sapnap takes a glance at him, opens his mouth like he is going to say something, but then ultimately decides against it. He continues the tutorial. Karl thinks nothing of it and lets him proceed.

Eventually, Sapnap explains the basics of it all down. How you step on the board, how to balance, how to move, and all the little tidbits that go in between. It took a lot for Karl’s little head to process, hell, he’s  _ still  _ trying to process, but he doesn’t want to be here all day. He lets Sapnap finish and sends him a small, yet confident smile to affirm him he is ready. He most definitely is not.

Sapnap helps him up on the board, letting Karl use his shoulders to support himself and hop on the surface. Karl musters up every nerve in his body to work together  _ not  _ to subconsciously lean into the warm and soft semblance of Sapnap’s shoulder. 

Once Karl is situated on the board, Sapnap favors grabbing onto his wrist instead of the previous placement with his shoulders. Karl would be complaining if the gesture didn’t feel a whole lot more familiar and domestic.

As Sapnap waits for Karl to finally feel comfortable enough on top of the board, he slowly, albeit not subtly, moves his hand down to link it with Karl’s. Jolts of electricity shiver up the brunet’s spine and leave goosebumps. He relishes in it. They both do.

“Position your feet like mine are,” Sapnap murmurs, and  _ oh  _ he’s that close to his ear? It tingles and Karl has to fight the urge to giggle childishly. His lips leave the barest ghost touch on his lobe and Karl  _ burns _ . He distantly wonders if it would do any justice compared to his lips situated  _ elsewhere _ .

Inner conscious thoughts really are a funny thing, aren’t they?

Belatedly, Karl realises he was supposed to be mocking the position of Sapnap’s feet. He glances down. His shoes are spread apart, both facing parallel towards the exit, initially the same direction and a well ways apart. Karl reciprocates the positioning and almost stumbles, but catches himself instantly.

Sapnap lets out a breathy chuckle, and Karl has half the mind to turn around and tell him to stop fucking being that  _ close  _ to the inner works of his ear. (But is he really complaining all too much?)

After putting himself in the right spot again, Sapnap nods, content. The crown of his head brushes against Karl’s face, and his hair feathers through his lashes and skin for the slightest of moments. 

“Now,” Sapnap says, and he finally backs up slightly, away from Karl’s face, “to move, you kinda gotta tilt your weight to a certain side. Uhh, like this.” he backs away even further, hand still linked with Karl’s like a limpet, and tilts to his left. 

Immediately, Karl feels the pull of his movement and almost stumbles again. He quickly composes himself and watches, as Sapnap demonstrates the correct body angle and proportions. He starts mumbling mindlessly about the exact measurements in which your body should be positioned and how important it is to ensure quality skateboarding. Karl barely listens, instead focusing on whatever the  _ hell  _ sort of thoughts were running through his mind just moments prior.

After a beat, Sapnap corrects back into his previous posture. The raven head looks back up at him, and Karl looks down. It’s funny how their difference in height is so much more notable now because of the skateboard. Karl has to laugh. Sapnap raises his eyebrows quizzically. 

“What’s so funny?” 

Karl manages to get out a few words in between his chortles. “Look at you! Shortnap,” he teases.

Sapnap’s eyebrows drop and furrow. He glares at Karl, but there is no heat behind it and only mirth. “I’ll let go of your hand,” he deadpans. 

Karl sobers up immediately. “No!” he exclaims, and then, quieter, more vulnerable, “please don’t.” 

Sapnap softens up. “I’ll have to eventually, Jacobs. You know what you’re doing now, yeah?”

_ No.  _ “I guess so.”

Sapnap smiles triumphantly. Karl distantly thinks a smile like that does wonders for him. It shines, golden and white, bearing the importance of a cascade of angels.

Sapnap starts to back up, slowly yet surely. Keeps backing up until they have to strain to keep their hands connected. Their gazes meet again, but there’s something different this time. Something intimate and serene, like Sapnap was picking apart the details of his face analysing them. His expression shines like fine china. Karl has to fight off an involuntary shudder. 

“I’m gonna let go of your hand, okay?” Sapnap says, assuring and gentle, and Karl tries to hide his disappointment. Instead, he straightens up his posture and focuses on trying not to fall off the board.

Sapnap lets go, and, instantaneously, Karl starts rolling away. 

He’s steady, at first. Arms stretched out like a butterfly and feet firmly situated on the hardwood, crossing his eyes in a daze as he watches the world slowly flash by him. It gets faster and the board becomes more jittery as he rolls on. Karl barely notices, still reminiscing the events just minutes prior.

And something soft like feathers, sweet like candy; or rather,  _ someone _ .

He hardly hears when Sapnap starts calling for his name in a hurried frenzy: “ _ Stop,  _ Karl!  _ Look out!”  _

Karl blinks, once. Twice. Does a double take and freaks out because  _ oh no  _ he’s heading in high speeds towards the threshold of the exit. 

There’s nothing he can do as the skateboard crashes directly into the fence, narrowly avoiding the other skaters and bystanders. The impact evokes a loud ringing in his ears and across the park, and the board flips itself over.

Karl starts to fall, heading straight towards the concrete. He closes his eyes and braces for the impact, because there’s nothing he can do and he  _ knows  _ it’s going to hurt. The world comes tumbling down, and Karl is brought along with it.

However, before Karl can even blink for a third time, Sapnap pulls him up flush against his chest, looks him square in his eyes, and for a moment the world just stops.

For a moment the world just stops and all Karl can see is Sapnap. Sapnap’s dark blue gaze burning lasers into him. Sapnap’s tanned skin glistening in the sunlight. Sapnap’s warm and calloused hands holding him steady upwards. Sapnap’s dark hair waving in the wind and falling in his eyes on occasion. Everything that has been in front of him all this time and everything he has barely batted an eye at. Everything Sapnap, Sapnap,  _ Sapnap _ .

Karl’s eyes widen to the size of saucers, lips part, as he  _ realises. _ The cognizance is steady and factual. In hindsight, it should have been obvious before, but it is still appreciated and adored all the same.

Karl can’t help but think that love, singing its song and telling its story, goes a little like this: It feathers its way through Karl’s body and lands on that certain spot in his heart; the spot reserved for only the calmest, sweetest, and kindest of things, like sand in your toes on a summer’s day or pooling drizzles of honey fresh from the jar. Something so absolutely invigorating and endearing that it bursts in dazzles of color and spreads its love throughout the entirety of Karl’s inner being. His soul is alight in the most wonderful of ways and he feels so full, so ecstatic, and so on top of the world. And it’s all because of Sapnap. Because of a boy he has most definitely fallen in love with over the expanse of knowing him, but only realising it here, in the middle of a skate park.

Sapnap here, in the now, holding him from a potential dastardly face plant onto the floor. But in hindsight, his metaphorical tumble into oblivion can be considered a hundred times more scary and unpredictable. 

And when Sapnap’s complexion blossoms into a pretty shade of pink, accenting his jawline and cheekbones, Karl would like to believe the younger has fallen just as hard.

Sapnap laughs, and Karl thinks if he could bottle the sound up; safe, sound, secure, for him to play on repeat for days on end, he would. “I think that’s enough practice for today, huh Jacobs?”

“I couldn’t agree more.” 

The two leave the park, content. No one comments on the ways their hands entangle together and squeeze comfortably almost like second nature. No one comments on the occasion in which their sides brush and they let out elated giggles and guffaws, either. The leaves in the trees brush their salutations and the sun, set high in the sky, smiles down, enlightening them in a plethora of shimmers and speckles of light.

(And if Karl thinks Sapnap looks breathtakingly beautiful in the golden hour, then so be it.)

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you so so much for reading!
> 
> comments & kudos are always appreciated!  
> also, i'd love to hear your thoughts on how i wrote karlnap! good? bad? mediocre? let me know, i'm looking for ways to improve <3
> 
> join the discord server [here](https://discord.gg/CRN4Rz2HXA)  
> find me on twitter [here](https://twitter.com/lindsflea)
> 
> have a lovely day! :D


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